Taxi Driver

The nitty gritty New York streets are captured and shown pretty nicely in the film "Taxi Driver." You follow the depressing and very odd life of Travis Bickle, your everyday normal psychopath with a big sleeping disorder. He feels like he has to accomplish something big in life and he is determined to figure out what that is. The man is far from social acceptable, bringing dates to porno's and stalking them when they leave. He also fantasizes about shooting someone, like the man running for Senator, and want to help a prostitute from her pimp. Mentally unstable is really being nice about this mans state of mind.

Overall the story is captivating enough to keep you entertained through the whole film. Watching as the man becomes a hero makes you a little uneasy as you see the life he lead up to that point and you find that you almost don't want him to be the hero because of all the things that he tried before killing the pimp. Even killing the pimp was a less then heroic act, as it was more selfish and him wanting to make a name for himself. He didn't even plan on living. But the way the director made you choose how you felt about it made the ending that much more compelling.

The random women he puts in his life is another aspect of the movie that shows us how unstable he is and his real motives in life. The first girl he meets he is actually trying to date. Unfortunately for him he does not know what to do on a date, so he kills that relationship before it really even began. Then the next girl he finds is a hooker that is only a kid. He wants to help her but the only life she knows is as a prostitute and relying on her pimp to supply. The movie ends with him helping out in the only way he knows how. That is by killing everyone and hoping she can find her way back home. As a war vet he seems to be unsure of how to handle himself and I feel that this was the only way he knew how to take care of any problems he had. Point and shoot.